Masking a few questions

 As 2020 falls further and further into our rearview mirrors I wanted to take time to remark on some of the most idiotic and once again "scientific" recommendations from the beloved Dr. Fauci.  In March of 2020 he went on record, in response to a reporter question, telling all Americans there was no need to wear a mask as it will do little to prevent the spread of Covid-19.  Several months later he went on record telling Americans they needed to wear the masks and he had only told us not to because he wanted to ensure our health care workers had enough to protect them.  We are now almost in Feb of 2021 and I hear today that he is now recommending we not only wear the mask but we should wear two masks!  Saying it provides more protection than one mask and that is just "common sense."  

In light of his newest revelation I am suggesting we all invest in a device I learned of in my military days, the O.B.A. or Oxygen Breathing Apparatus pictured above!  Not only will it protect you from Covid It also supplies valuable life saving oxygen and can protect you from any and all viruses, chemical or biological attacks, etc.  What could possibly be the downside?  All Americans would be protected and fewer people will die, that is what the government wants right?  Sure the canister has a limited supply of oxygen so it would have to be changed a lot.  And sure it is super hot to wear for long periods of time.  And sure it can be very uncomfortable for a lot of people.  But isn't you and your families safety worth it?

And this is where a lot of you are thinking "man this guy is off his rocker" but I am here to tell you I am safely within my faculties.  As we allow the "experts" and "scientists" to dictate more and more aspects of our lives we give them not only medical authority but also political authority.  I think it is time we take back out lives and live how we think is best for us and our families.  I think we can hear their suggestions and evaluate their relevance on our own.  We don't need mandatory mask mandates and other things forced on us by them or our representatives.  America was designed so the people had the power and the govt officials worked for us.  In our history that has shifted and morphed into this idea we are subservient to our govt. and that is wrong on every level.  We need to take our constitutionally given power back and stop the abuse and division being led by our leaders.  

I feel in the near future we will be in a position where revolution is the only remedy for the corruption eroding our govt and its foundations.  What side do you want to be on?

Non-Political post #1- Entertainement

 

As promised this is my first post of 2021 that breaks up the monotony of politics with something fun to discuss.  For those who enjoy my pithy commentary have no fear I will be posting as usual very soon!  So what can we discuss today that people might be interested in?  I have thought long and hard about what would be interesting for most of you and then it hit me, entertainment!  So here is what I was thinking, what do you do for entertainment and why?

For me I enjoy a lot of different forms of entertainment.  But the most enjoyable thing I like to do is attend concerts and hockey games!  2020 prevented both of those things but hockey season recently started and my wife agreed to let me order the Center Ice package on Direct TV which allows me to watch every single Colorado Avalanche game this season!!!  So while that does not have the same energy as being there live I have really enjoyed being able to watch my team.  Hockey has an energy live that I have never felt at any other sporting event.  It is a very enjoyable way to spend a few hours and it gives me a great feeling no matter if the team I am rooting for wins or loses.  Here in Tucson we have 2 hockey teams, the University of Arizona and the AHL club team for the Coyotes the Tucson Roadrunners.  Both of these teams are awesome to watch live and I really miss being there with my family and friends.

The other thing I truly miss is live concert events.  Since 2012 I have worked with a website called Faygoluvers which covers the genre of Underground rap and hip hop mostly.  I do music reviews, show reviews, and some interviews for them and it has allowed me to get deeply involved in something that brings me relaxation and enjoyment.  I have gotten to interview some amazing artists and review a ton of amazing albums.  But the thing I enjoy most is being at live shows.  Nothing gives me the ability to escape the realities of life for a short time like being there.  For that few hours I can give myself entirely to the vibe and energy in the building and let the outside world disappear.  Toward the end of 2020 I began writing music reviews again and found while immersing myself in the music I found some of that same feeling.  It will never be the same as live event but until that can begin again I am going to work hard to provide new reviews and start to make the review section of the site very active!

So in the end here I would like to know what kinds of things do you enjoy for entertainment and how do those things make you feel?  I know for some movies or tv shows give that ability to relax.  For others it is reading.  What is it that feeds your soul?

Unity and equality for all......No not you

 

In 8 days we will see a new President take the seat in the White House.  I didn't vote for him but I am willing to give him a chance to prove my concerns and fears wrong.  I have stated many times before I think he is simply a place holder for 5-6 months and then he will step down making Kamala Harris our first Black female President.  Why is that important?  Well the Democratic party has for years made their platform "The first..." They have pandered to minority groups for votes and then gotten into power and done nothing for those groups.

President elect Biden gave a speech the other day expressing how he is going to help small businesses recover from the Covid lockdowns.  The thing he did not address was that his party controls the cities and states which have had the worst response to Covid, imposed the most restrictions and cause the most deaths based on policies they have put in place.  The one thing he said that struck me the most was this "Our priority will be Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American owned small businesses, women-owned businesses, and finally having equal access to resources needed to reopen and rebuild."  I have no problem supporting those businesses, my problem is excluding other racial groups from the same aid opportunities.  The Democrats scream about racial injustice and equality but at every single turn exclude and put policy in place which places other racial groups at a disadvantage in order to benefit others.  This is systemic racism.  Putting systems in place for the benefit of one racial group over another is the definition of systemic racism.  So why are the same people who have screamed for equal justice now silent?  The answer is simple, it does not fit their idea of equality.

We have seen with the lockdowns the hypocrisy of these people.  The do as I say not as I do mentality.  The justice for me but not for you ideas have set us back to a time where nobody is equal.  Some of these equality advocates have petitioned for segregated dorms on college campuses, black only rec centers, and even supporting financial help through the crisis for minorities only.  Biden's campaign rhetoric was all about unity and healing the country but his actions are about dividing us further.  He and the far left are doing this to restrict our rights and squash the conservative viewpoint.  Just this week every social media platform banned the sitting President of the United States from their platforms, this is not right.  This is censorship.  Never in our history has one viewpoint been censored while others are allowed to continue.  Why is it people are not standing up and stopping this?

We saw people storm our capitol building in DC, which I covered in my last blog, and we saw lawless riots in the streets all summer.  These were cause by the division being sewed in the media and through our politics.  Only when we realize the government works for the people, the people don't subject to the government will we begin to stop this shift in our political system.  If we don't stand up soon I am truly afraid we will lose everything we know and all the freedoms we enjoy.  For now I will pray for the best and hope we eventually get to unity and equality for all not just some.

Mostly peaceful riots

 So all summer I watched cities burn in the name of "social justice" and police reform.  The media spend weeks and weeks telling me these riots were "mostly peaceful protests."  I would shake my head, laugh and wonder to myself when the extremists on the right would stand up and fight.  I wasn't wishing for it or condoning it but I knew it was only a matter of time before the other side used the same tactics to push their view points and try to make a statement.  Well it didn't take long into 2021 for my thoughts to become reality.  On Jan 6,2021 a large group of Trump "supporters" rallied in Washington to support the President in his election fight.  I put supporters in quotes because there is speculation some of them were not true supporters but instead Antifa members who contributed to the BLM riots.  I can't say I agree but the speculation is out there.  After the President gave his speech they marched to the capitol building and it quickly devolved into a riot.  People smashed the doors to the capitol and made their way into the offices of congressional members and even into the chambers of congress.  They did not light fires or spray paint the walls with slogans.  They committed crimes and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  I have always stood by my belief that the media and now big tech are responsible for the division in our country.  If you take time and watch 30 min of each news network you can quickly see their biases and it becomes very clear why their "followers" think the way they do.  

These biases have led to a very divided country.  A country divided by gender, race, religion, ethnicity, and everything else that could make us different from one another.  I do think we can save our society and bring unity and peace back into the country but it is going to take people admitting they are short sighted and hold prejudices towards others unfairly.  It will take people opening their minds and hearts to the fact we are all human and we are all American.  It will take people remembering that the people elected to government offices work for us, they are the public servants not the public rulers.  

The people that stormed the capitol had no right to do so.  One woman was shot and killed by capitol police.  If you watch most major news networks the rioter were right wing Trump supporters who committed insurrection and we cannot possibly let this go on.  They also took time to point out in almost every news story how the BLM riots were met with a more well armed police force and the outcome would have been different if the rioters were mostly black and brown people.  What they did not point out was the mayor or Washington DC, a black female Democrat, had turned down an offer by the federal government to have national guard support the DC police for this rally.  For the BLM rally that support was also offered but she made sure to accept it.  So in my opinion the blame falls squarely on her shoulders, but the main stream media will not even mention that, because she is a Democrat and fits their narrative.  

In the end there is never a right or justified riot.  No matter your cause we are a civilized society and events like the BLM riots and this simply make us hypocrites as both sides point to the others riots and say how they are breaking laws and it isn't right.  In both cases people died.  In both cases laws were broken.  In both cases politicians stood by waiting to pick the bones of the middle and lower class after the battle was over.  Today all we are hearing from the Democrats is them blaming Trump and talking about the 25th amendment and impeaching him.  In 12 days he will be out of office and the Democrats will spend the next few years desecrating his name and good work while in office instead of working to pass the laws and other things they promised their voters.  And that is exactly what is wrong with our system.  They are more concerned with saying the right things instead of doing the right things.  They are more concerned with increasing their wealth than helping us increase ours.  

Do I agree with the riots and storming the capitol?  No I do not.  Do I understand why the BLM and these riots happened?  Yes.  The police have no support and are made to stand by and watch the cities burn.  Until people realize there is consequences for their actions we will see things like this continue.  Until then we can only arm ourselves and hope our neighborhood is not the next one to be targeted.

Hindsight really is 2020

 

Well it has been a few weeks since I posted a blog and it was an intentional pause in my fairly regular posts.  I wanted to take the end of the year and focus on my family and friends.  But we are now in 2021 and you can fully expect to see more regular posting!  I know you all are super excited as am I.  This year I will focus on the usual business but have decided to take about one of every five posts and make it light hearted and fun.  Doom and gloom filled everyone's 2020 and I want to make sure we don't continue the trend this year.  So for my first post of the new year I wanted to look at just how Covid-19 changed our everyday lives and the fallout from those changes.

The first thing that changed was our work environments.  For me personally I still had to go into work and battle the daily grind.  But for so many others including my wife work had moved into our homes.  Our kids also moved into the homes.  This forced parents to not only adapt to working from a distance but also being home teachers and students as they sat through the grade level of their kids.  For my wife it was work, teacher and third grader and believe me when I say it was a challenge.  So in looking at how this changes our future I can say my company found about 30% of our workers were capable of working from home and being as efficient or more efficient than being in the office.  For any businesses this is great news as they can stop paying for real estate for their offices and save money on the bottom line.  The bad side of the lockdowns was of course many long standing local businesses closed their doors for good.  This has cause major impact to the economy in every single state.  In 2021 I think we will see continued troubleshooting and finding ways to be profitable that are outside of the "normal" and I think that is a good thing.

Next was our interactions with other at work and in society.  We had a huge divide in mask vs no mask, lockdown vs no lockdown, and of course politics continued to be as divided as ever.  The only take away I have from all of it is that the powers that be have gained power using fear and difference of opinion.  The very same people who told us 15 days to slow the spread and tossed crumbs at us in the form of stimulus payments are the same people who continued to make millions or billions of dollars all while telling us we needed to struggle to ensure the health and safety of our fellow citizens.  They intentionally caused mistrust among the people and sat back watching the United States burn.  They showed they have no concern for anything except their own power and profit.  To them it is a game as they advocate shutting down restaurants because it is too dangerous for us and then the very same day stopping and eating at those restaurants on the way home.  They adopted the do as I say not as I do attitude.  We were told to avoid gathering for holidays and travelling because it was dangerous, yet they left those press conferences and went to their private jets to fly and spend time with their families.  My takeaway here is that none of these restrictions are about our safety, they are about controlling our lives.  That to me is completely unacceptable.

Finally we saw our government more divided than ever.  We saw the Democratic party move so far left they embraced socialism fully and the Republicans continued to ignore what many consider very dangerous.  President Trump got blamed for a worldwide pandemic, massive deficit caused by congress, and businesses suffering due to restrictions put in place by state governments.  He has done so many positive things for America all while donating ever single penny he earned as President to charity.  He gave up millions of dollars to server the American people while other govt official got rich.  This shift in our govt, if not slowed or reversed, will cause the downfall of America as we know it.  That also to me is unacceptable.  

So in the end 2020 is in the rearview and we can look forward to 2021.  As we do this I ask all of us to do what we can to make positive ripples in our ponds.  We have no control over the massive ocean that is the United States but we do have control over caring about our family and friends.  It doesn't matter if you are Democrat or Republican, white or black, female or male, or any other trait used to divide us as people.  Love those around you, care for your fellow citizens, and do your best to make someone else smile every day.  Only by uniting as people and Americans can we make this country everything our founders wanted it to be.  Remember how you felt on Sept 12, 2001.  That day we were united as Americans who had suffered a massive tragedy.  I think Jan 1, 2021 we are also Americans who have suffered a massive tragedy, the loss of our freedoms and country as we know it.  Spread positivity and love not doom and gloom.